Mason&#39;s aligning fixture



March 23, 1954 R. L. SEARS ETAL 2,672,691

MASON'S ALIGNING FIXTURE Filed Sept. 10. 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l March1954 R. L. SEARS ET AL MASON'S ALIGNING FIXTURE Filed Sept. 10, 1949 2Sheets-Sheet 2 fizJemfons: Z07 Urn; z'y Z Seawa V Patented Mar. 23, 19542,672,691 MASONS ALIGNING FIXTURE Robert L. Sears and Adrian W. Craig,Des Moines, Iowa Application September 10, 1949, Serial No. 114,976

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to aligning fixtures suitable for use by a masonfor the purpose of accurately leveling a first course of brick or otherbuilding units, and aligning the subsequent courses of a wall made fromsuch units, which fixtures assure that all courses of the building unitswill be parallel to the first course and simplify the construction ofthe wall by eliminating the use of level and plumb line during suchconstruction.

One object of the invention is to provide an aligning fixture which canbe quickly erected at each outside corner (and each inside corner ifany) of a building wall prior to building up the wall, the fixturescarrying a masons line to which the bricks are set, the line beinginitially leveled and thereafter kept level as it is raised for eachcourse of bricks, the fixture having vertical markings for insuring thateach raising of the line will be the same distance at each fixture andthe courses of brick thereby kept level throughout the entire buildingup of the wall.

More particularly, it is our object to provide an aligning fixturecomprising an upright with means to readily mount it adjacent the cornerof a wall to be built up and quickly adjusting it to a truly verticalposition after which corner brackets are adjusted inwardly as necessaryrelative to the upright for defining th corners, both outside andinside, of the wall, the corner brackets having means to hold a masonsline so that the line completely around the wall is held in a levelposition and may be vertically raised step by step with respect to theuprights a distance equal to the thickness of one course of buildingunits so that all courses may be kept truly level.

A further object is to provid aligning fixtures which are applicable forbasement construction, solid masonry, masonry and steel or masonryveneering types of walls.

Still a further object is to provide a special line that can be used inplace of the usual masons line and which special line is made of wire orthe like and has markings thereon to indicate the vertical mortar jointsso that these joints from bottom to top of th wall will also bevertical, thus making possible the construction of a wall by relativelyunskilled labor which will have a mathematically correct appearancecomparable with brick walls laid by skilled brick layers in accordancewith present-day methods.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of ourmasons aligning fixture, whereby the objects contemplated are attained,as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a brick wall showing two outsidecorners and an inside corner with one of our aligning fixtures at eachcorner, and illustrating the masons line extending between them.

Figure 2 is a vertical view on the indicating line 2-2 of Figure 1showing details of one of the fixtures,

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an outside corner bracketused in connection with the fixture.

Figure 4 is a similar inside corner bracket.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a corner bracket support.

Figure 6 is a plan view thereof showing it connected with an upright(shown in section).

Figure 7 is a detail of the inside corner bracket, whereas Figure 6illustrates the outside corner bracket.

Figure 8 is a detailed sectional view on the line fl8 of Figure 5.

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 9-9 of Figure 2, theparts being turned a quarter-turn clockwise.

Figure 10 is an elevation of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a detailed sectional view on the line I IH of Figure 7; and

Figure 12 is a sectional view showing second story construction.

On the accompanying perspective view of an drawing we have used thereference numeral II) to indicate a base plate and I2 a pair of stakestherefor. he parts l0 and I2 may be made of mild steel or similar metaland the plate I0 is pivoted to the stakes [2 as by bolts M.

An angle bracket I6 is pivoted to the base plate (0 by means of a boltl8 that can be tightened after pivotal adjustment and supports anupright 20 which may be formed of pipe or the like. The upright issecured to the vertical flang of the bracket It by a U-bolt 22 and nuts24 as shown in Figures 9 and 10.

The upright 20 is braced by a pair of tubular braces 26 pivoted theretoat right angles to each other as indicated at 28. Rods 30 telescope intothe tubes 26, the two being retained in any desired telescopic relationby wing set screws 32. The lower ends of the rods 30 are providedwithopenings through which into wooden stakes 36.

For each'outside corner, we provide an outside nails 34 may be drivencorner bracket 38 and for inside corner bracket 40. Each of the brackets38 and 48 has an attaching flang 42 adapted to be bolted as at 44 to acorner bracket support 45. The bolts permit ready interchangeability ofthe inside and outside corner brackets as required for any given job.

The support 46 is channel shaped in cross section as illustrated andprovided with a longitudinal slot 48. Bolts 50 and 52 extend through theslot to connect a clamp plate 54 and a clamp strap 56 to the support 46.The bolt is loose enough to permit free sliding and the bolt 52 has anextended handle 58 for convenience in clamping the bracket 54 and thestrap 5% tightly around the upright 29 in any desired vertical orrotational position.

Each corner bracket 38 and 4B is provided with line notches 60 in itsupper edges to receive a masons line 62. This line may be cotton twineas ordinarily used or may be wire or the like. In Figures 1 to 4, weillustrate the ordinary line and in Figures 6 and 7 a special line ofwire having mortar joint markings 62a every 4" which corresponds to onehalf the length of a brick. These marks are preferably about long andmay be etched into the metal wire, the /8" representing the thickness ofthe mortar joint.

On each upright 28, we provide a plurality of index marks 64 spaced thethickness of a brick plus the thickness of a mortar joint andcooperating therewith we provide an indicating pointer 66 which isadjustable on the clamp strap 5% by means of a slot and clamp boltarrangement shown at 6B and 10. To prevent the supports 46 from turningon the uprights 2B the brackets 54 are provided with keys 55 that slidein keyways 21 of the uprights. (See Figures 6 and 9.)

Practical operation In the use of our aligning fixtures, the corners ofthe wall are first accurately marked on the corners of the foundationand a fixture is set up adjacent each corner after chalk lines aresnapped joining the corners. The fixture is set approximately 45 degreesfrom the marked corner so that when the corner brackets 38 and 40 areadjusted, they will just fit around the outside and into the insidecorners of the wall.

The base plates H) are first set up by driving the stakes H atapproximately th proper position and leveled by the relative elevationsof the stakes. The base plates Ill are located as close to each outlinecorner on the foundation as the footing will permit. The top of the baseplate should be 2 /2" or more below the top of the first course ofmasonry to be laid in order to allow room for the supports 46 whichcarry the line 62. The upright t4 may then be clamped to the anglebrackets l6 by the U-bolts 22. The pivotal connections (4' and I8 permitslight repositioning of the upright in a horizontal plane and permit theupper end to be swung toward or away from the wall to plumb it. Thestakes 34 and 36 are driven and th rods 30 nailed to them after whichthe upright may be plumbed to a level or plumb line and the set screws32 tightened to retain the upright in plumbed position.

After all uprights have been set and plumbed, the corner brackets 38 andas may be adjusted while the clamp bolts 52 are loose and these clampbolts then tightened when the supports 48 are at the right height for acourse of brick. After the right height is determined at one corher. thecorner bracket at the next corner is each inside corner, an

then adjusted to that height by leveling the line 62 extending from thefirst bracket to the second one and so on around the wall.

The pointers 66 may then be adjusted to the nearest index mark 64 as thesupports 46 are not always exactly at an index mark after the levelingoperation just described. Thereafter, there is assurance each time thecorner bracket is raised for the next course of brick, such as one indexmark for ordinary brick, two for tile, and three for concrete blocks,that the top of each course when laid to the masons line will be leveland parallel. to all the proceeding courses.

Instead of building up the corners of the wall and then filling inbetween as in the usual manner, each course is laid all the way aroundthe wall and by using the mortar joint marks 62a, the vertical mortarjoints will all be accurately aligned. The wall can be toothed out ifdesired however which method is usually preferred by a skilled mason. I

In connection with the special wire line having the marks 62a, weillustrate in Figures 6 and I and 11, clamp plates l2 and wing clampscrews 14 for clamping the wire to the corner plate. One of these isprovided adjacent each line notch E35 and between the clamp plates theline may be looped as at are so that the markings 62a may start thedesired distance from the corner which is the width, or half the length,of a brick. In this way our method eliminates the necessity of cuttingany bricks short to fill in at the end of a course and also locates allwindow and door openings to eliminate fill-ins except of course halfbricks where needed. By locating the wall openings in reference to themarks 62a on the line 62, the sides of the openings will be plumbbecause of the guide marks on the wire rising in a true verticaldirection because the wires are suspended from th uprights 26 which are,of course, vertical.

Using present-day methods, it is necessary to have considerable skill inorder to lay up a brick wall which is true and in which all courses arelevel throughout. By using our fixtures, and properly plumbing andleveling at the beginning of the operation, relatively unskilled laborcan lay up a wall which is equal to or superior to walls laid byexperienced brick layers without such fixtures. The first course is laidup to the masons line 62 and the markings 62a thereon indicate the brickspacing and thickness of vertical mortar joints without having to relyon skill for this. The markings 64 on the uprights also contribute tohorizontal mortar joints of equal thickness.

The brick layers helper may raise the line at successive corners afterthe course ahead of that corner has been completed by the brick layerand the brick layer thus can work steadily around the wall, building itup one complete course at a time, with assurance that when the wall isbuilt up to the proper height the top will be accurately level withrespect to the bottom because the masons line at that time is the samenumber of index marks above the line at the beginning of the operationsince the index marks 64 on all uprights are of course the same.

The fixtures are so designed that a minimum of time is required forsetting them up and they can be easily leveled without any complicatedoperations. Thereafter it is a relatively simple matter to shift thesupports 46 upwardly, one, two, or three index marks at a timewhichcarries the masons lines with it and keeps it level-at all times. Ourfixtures therefore speed up the construction of the wall while at thesame time insure that it will be perfect as to the levelness of allcourses and that each corner will be truly vertical.

As to the marks 62a on the wire 62, modular masonry units are less than8" so that a brick and a bond is equal to 8". Accordingly, by makingeach mark 62a in length and the marks 3% apart, two of the marks areequal to one brick and a bond. All modular units in masonry are made tothis same scale so that the bricks and brickbats used to build up thewall are the only units necessary when making the length of the wall aneven number of modular units and the openings in the wall spaced anequal number of modular units. Thus the special marker wire- 92automatically establishes the bonds for either standard or modularmasonry when used in lieu of a masons line. This is especially useful inthat it automatically establishes position, length, and plumb of allopenings thereby eliminating the use of a level.

The vertical marking 64 on the uprights are preferably 2% apart whenlaying modular or standard brick, tile or blocks. For other buildingunits of course, uprights with difierent scales could be provided ifdesired. By practicing a method that uses our aligning fixtures asherein disclosed, all wall units are laid to an exact line includingcorners and all joints and bonds are exactly the same size. All bondsare plumb and the finished wall is automatically perfectly level at thetop.

For two (or more) story construction, the stakes l2 and the base platesl may be replaced by a strap 16 shown in Figure 12 which is nailed at 18to the sub-floor and projects through the masonry joint at the corner toapproximately 8" beyond the masonry. The upright 20 is remounted on thestrap 16 by bolting the angle bracket l6 thereto and mounting theupright on the bracket by the U-bolt 22 as before. The braces 2B-30 maythen be attached inside the building to the floor and the workprogresses to the next floor. By repeating this process any number ofstories may be built.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of our masons aligning fixture without departing from the realspirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover byour claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical.equivalent which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. A masons aligning fixture of the character disclosed comprising abase plate, a pair of spaced stakes pivoted thereto, an upright bracketpivoted to said base plate, an upright connected therewith, telescopingangular braces for said upright, a lateral support on said upright,means for clamping the same to the upright in various verticalpositions, and a corner bracket carried by the outer end of said lateralsupport and having means for carrying a masons line.

2. A masons aligning fixture of the character disclosed comprising abase plate, a pair of spaced stakes pivoted thereto, an upright bracketclampingly pivoted to said base plate, an upright connected therewith,telescoping angular braces for said upright having their lower endsstaked, a lateral support on said upright, said support beinglongitudinally slidable, means for clamping the same to the upright invarious vertical and lateral positions, interchangeable inside andoutside corner brackets carried by the outer end of said support andhaving means for carrying a masons line, a masons line cooperatingtherewith having vertical joint indicating means, and means for securingthe line to the corner plate in adjusted positions relative thereto.

ROBERT L. SEARS. ADRIAN W. CRAIG.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 322,563 Reymond July 21, 1885 458,464 Kelley Aug. 25, 1891713,789 Newman Nov. 18, 1902 736,100 Hostettler Aug. 11, 1903 875,034Wright Dec. 311, 1907 1,296,060 Ferguson Mar. 4, 1919 1,783,883 LarrisonDec. 2, 1930 1,824,321 Baker Sept. 22, 1931 1,872,860 Winter Aug. 23,1932 1,897,682 Souders Feb. 14, 1933 2,023,155 Turner Dec. 3, 19352,084,798 Gabriel June 22, 1937 2,143,237 Byrnes Jan. 10, 1939

